Colors Mean Everything
by WitandAmbition
Summary: Harry runs into a boy during his Christmas shopping, and it makes him remember his own son.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no claims to ownership.**

Notes: My thing is, based on what little information we get from the Epilogue, James is the forgotten Potter child. If we take it completely by canon, then James ended up in Gryffindor, probably because he knew it was expected of him. Ignoring CC but still keeping Albus as Slytherin, despite his lack of traits for the house, then Harry was probably elated by Albus' sorting, thereby generating even more resentment on James' part. I can see James graduating and then completely disappearing off the map, never contacting his family again since they don't even care if he's arrived on the platform safely.

So, this is me diving into more canon territory. But a realistic one. Or as realistic as a world of magic can get.

 **Colors Mean Everything**

It's when he's Christmas shopping in Diagon Alley that it happens. Harry has to grab the shelf behind him to stop himself from falling. His heart skips a beat when he looks at the boy who just ran into him. The boy is too old to be his grandson Henry, and besides, he has glasses and no freckles, and his green eyes are more emerald rather than the color of the Killing Curse… No, it is not Henry, but the similarity between them is definitely striking.

"Chase! I told you not to run off!"

The woman's voice rounds the corner before her. She stops when she sees the boy sprawled on the floor, and the pile of books Harry dropped.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she rushes to say, immediately taking out her wand and summoning the books. Harry takes them from her, impressed that she did the spell soundlessly. "My son always has more grace on a broom than on the ground."

Harry laughs. "My son Albus is like that, too."

Something about her polite smile becomes frozen. Startled, Harry studies the rest of her. She is dressed in expensive robes, and her eyes are the same green as her son's own. She does not look familiar to Harry, and unless she is the opposite of one of his dreaded fans, he cannot think of what he did wrong to gain her disdain.

He shuffles his books under an arm. He's not sure why he's lingering, but the boy has gotten to his feet and is looking at Harry curiously. A pointed glance from his mother has him ducking his head and mumbling an apology.

"It's fine," Harry assures him. "Are you alright?"

The boy bobs his head. "Yes, sir."

He's still nervous, and Harry smiles at him.

"I'm Harry. What's your name?"

"Chase," the boy replies after glancing at his mother. "And I don't want your autograph," he adds.

Harry blinks. "Okay…"

It is not often he has to deal with rudeness. Usually people are overtly nice to him, almost bending over backwards to please him. Chase's attitude reminds him of another boy.

The woman sighs. "Come along, darling, we'll finish our shopping at another time," she says.

As they walk away, Harry watches them, something tugging at his heart. He has just turned away when he hears a hissing sound. He spins around just in time to see the woman frozen, staring at her son in fear before she slowly lifts her gaze to Harry.

Harry is not aware of striding forward, but somehow he is towering over the small boy and demanding, "What's your _full_ name?"

"Get away from him!" the woman cries, tugging her son behind her protectively.

Harry blinks again, feeling sick as he realizes he was just intimidating a child, but then Chase steps forward, no longer cowering but standing with his back straight and his chin raised defiantly.

"Potter," Chase spits out. "My name is Charles Potter."

Struck numb, Harry can only stare at him. Now that Harry's aware of the relation, the resemblance is even more shocking. Chase has Harry's nose and Ginny's mouth, just like James. Of Harry's three children, James had been the one to look the most like him. He'd also been the only one to inherit the Parseltongue ability that Chase has just demonstrated.

"Chase," the woman snaps.

He stands with his hands clenched for a long moment before returning to her. She grasps his shoulder and gives Harry a dark look. Though she says nothing, the accusation is clear in her eyes. Harry watches in a daze as they leave the shop.

By the time he gets home, it's dark and he has only a few of the gifts he planned on buying. The light is on in Ginny's office, but he ignores it as he stumbles toward their room and collapses on the bed. His relationship with Ginny is cordial, but neither of them can look at each other without seeing the guilt and blame in their eyes.

Propping himself up on an elbow, Harry lights the sconces and begins to rummage in the drawer of his night dresser. At the bottom, piled underneath various knickknacks, he finds the old photograph. It had been hidden away when they realized James wasn't coming back.

Harry traces his son's face. James stands a little apart from Albus and Lily. There is a dangerous tilt to his smile and a savage light in his blue eyes. Harry has stopped wondering how none of them saw it coming. James had always been good at conveying utmost confidence. For the longest time, Harry thought his son didn't know what it meant to hold insecurities.

Harry remembers, with vivid clarity, the words James screamed at them that day. _"The Hat wanted to put me in Ravenclaw, did you know that? But I talked it into Gryffindor, because I thought that's what_ you'd _want!"_

"I'm so sorry," Harry whispers to the photograph.

Colors had destroyed his son. James, with the blue eyes, despised both green and red – or rather, he envied them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no claims to ownership.**

When James enters Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, he is met by an explosion of noise and chaos. He can't see his uncle's bright red hair or the garish magenta robes, and so he goes into the back room. The ward set up there alerts his uncle to his presence, and George arrives immediately.

"James," he says, surprised. "What are you doing here?" He adopts a playful expression. "Are you getting supplies for Al?"

Forcing a smile, James shakes his head. He knows it looks like he's amused, but really he's frustrated. Albus has been caught several times smuggling items out of the shop, but rather than punishing him, George seems to only find it endearing, and has never told James' parents. James has always wondered what would happen if he were the one to be caught instead.

"No, I just…" James bites his lip. "Do you need any more workers here? Or an intern, maybe?"

George stares at him for so long that James starts to fidget. "What are you up to?" George asks suspiciously.

"Nothing!" James protests.

"Do you want extra money? Is that it? I know your parents have decreased your allowance, but you…"

James cuts him off. "I just wanted some work experience, that's all," he says snippily, shoving past his uncle toward the door. "I can see I won't find that here."

Though he has been rude to his family several times before, he has never used that tone with his uncle, and George is so startled that he doesn't respond. It is only after James has already left the shop that George reaches the door and shouts for him, but then a customer calls George back inside.

James comes to a stop outside Ollivander's wand shop, watching through the window as a girl receives her wand. His entire body itches with anger when he sees the shower of blue and bronze sparks fall from her wand, and her parents looking excited for her. James' own parents had looked disappointed when his wand expelled the same color of sparks. They'd denied it immediately, but he'd seen the way Harry rubbed the back of his neck and the skin bunching around Ginny's eyes after James asked what the colors meant.

He hurries on to the Quidditch store. The new racing broom has come out, and though he knows he can't afford it, he still wants to see what it looks like. There's also a pitch in the back where people can rent brooms and fly. James decides that's what he needs right now. It is only when he is flying, unfettered by expectations, that he feels alive.

* * *

 **AN:** I guess 'intermittently' should be adjusted to 'sporadically'.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no claims to ownership.**

Sometimes James wonders if he was forced into hating his brother. After all, their parents gave them opposing names, and then proceeded to treat them so differently. His gut twists uncomfortably as he watches Albus take a seat next to Scorpius Malfoy. Though it is only the opening feast and Albus won't be able to tell their parents until later, James already knows what their reactions will be. He wants to stand up and scream out about the unfairness of it all.

Only a few days after Albus' sorting, James gets a letter from home. Ginny warns him to be kind to Albus, and informs him that his own father had almost been a Slytherin, too. James wonders why he wasn't ever told this before his own sorting.

Glancing over at the Slytherin table, he notices that Albus is missing. With a forced smile to his friends, James gets to his feet and tells them not to wait for him.

Contrary to what everyone says about him, James really cares about his little brother. When he finds Albus hiding in the Astronomy tower, James drops down and sits beside him in the golden light of the setting sun.

"Go away," Albus snarls immediately, his green eyes blazing.

James leans against the wall and smirks. "No way," he replies mockingly.

With a huff, Albus stands and stalks back down the stairs. James watches him with a hollow feeling inside his chest. They were opposites from birth. James had always been told he would be golden, and Albus was told to celebrate his green.

* * *

 **AN:** But soft! Is that an update?

 **AN2:** I'm _really_ not satisfied with this one, but it just refuses to flow.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no claims to ownership.**

James is running. He doesn't know where, but he knows he has to get away from this. Closing his trunk, he shrinks it and slips it into his pocket just as Harry appears in the doorway to his room, blocking him from leaving.

"What are you doing?"

"Get out of my way," James snarls.

"I don't understand," Harry says desperately. "What did I do wrong?"

Harry seems genuinely confused, which makes James even angrier. They haven't spent time together in years, proven by James' graduation present tonight. He knows that he should be touched that Harry is willing to give him Sirius' old motorbike, but he has no interest in it when he had been asking for a new broom. He doesn't even really know that much about his namesake. Harry seems more focused on waxing about Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape.

For the first time in his life, James draws his wand on his father. "Move, or I'll hex you. I don't care if you're the stupid Man Who Conquered."

Instead of moving, Harry widens his stance. "James, please. Let's just talk about this."

"Talk about it?" James says in disbelief. "Talk about what? How your precious _Albus Severus_ looks just like you? How Lily is your little girl? When have you ever spoken about me, Dad? I got one sentence in the newspaper. _'We weren't surprised that James is in Gryffindor, but Albus being in Slytherin was sort of shocking. Nevertheless, we're proud of him!'_

"Not surprising, huh? Well it should have been! The Hat wanted to put me in Ravenclaw, did you know that? But I talked it into Gryffindor, because I thought that's what _you'd_ want!"

His voice is hoarse by the end of it. Harry is standing there, blinking but otherwise not reacting. He is so dazed that he doesn't stop James from shoving past him. James stomps down the stairs toward the door. The rest of his family is clustered in the living room. Ginny and Lily are clinging to each other, but Albus glares accusingly at James.

Again, none of them try to stop him from leaving.

He wishes they had.

The door slams behind him. James takes out his other graduation present, a ticket to Romania from his uncle Charlie. He has no interest in dragons, but at least it's a starting place for his new life.

He looks up at the clear sky. The sun is setting, but this time, James thinks it bathes everything in bronze rather than gold. He knows that it means he will always take third place in his parents' hearts.

* * *

 **AN:** It's actually kind of funny how the colors work out. Gryffindor is gold. Slytherin is silver. Ravenclaw is bronze. And who cares about Hufflepuff? This is seen by all of the bias in the books.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no claims to ownership.**

The Leaky Cauldron is busy with several people swarming around an older man with salt-and-pepper hair. Chase doesn't notice him until they're further inside the pub, but when he does, his eyes tighten. Anthony looks between him and Harry Potter before sighing. Though Maia had mentioned her run-in with Harry, none of them had expected him to be at Diagon Alley at the same time again.

"Come on," he mutters, taking Chase by the arm. "He won't notice us if we're quick enough."

They reach a man who stands near another large group, almost blending in with them. He has a hat pulled low on his head, hiding his distinctive messy black hair.

"Hello, boys," he greets them, smiling. "Ready to go?"

Anthony opens his mouth to answer, but stops as two younger boys shove past them, shouting, "Grandpa!"

Harry turns to catch the boys as they launch into his arms.

"Figures Dad makes him come instead," Anthony says.

"Albus still stuck in his self-centered angst phase?" James asks wryly.

"Always," Anthony replies, making a face at the word. "Thanks for letting me stay with you, Mr. Potter."

Reaching out, James ruffles Anthony's brown hair with a familial fondness. Though they've only known each other a few days, Anthony lets him because he can't remember the last time his own parents showed him affection without a prompting. Henry somehow tends to take all of it.

"Call me Uncle James," he requests, taking their shopping bags and guiding them to the Muggle entry. They walk at a sedate pace so as not to draw attention, but fast enough that they're gone before Harry can notice them.

Outside it's snowing, and Anthony pauses a moment, watching the white flakes, until suddenly he yelps as a wet coldness slides down the back of his neck.

"Chase!" he yells, but his cousin only laughs and darts away.

James stops and watches them, openly amused, as Anthony scoops snow into a ball to retaliate. Then one stray snowball collides with him, and both Anthony and Chase freeze, waiting with baited breath for his reaction. Their only warning is a wide grin. Chase is faster in ducking for cover, but he and Anthony soon agree to form a team.

Their laughter is still sparkling in the air with the falling snow when Anthony feels Chase tense next to him. Slowly he turns around to see Harry standing there with Henry, Anthony's younger brother, and Eric, Lily's son, hovering behind him. At their sudden silence, James comes around the car, looking concerned. He stops mid-stride, his posture stiffening.

"James…" Harry whispers, taking a step forward.

Raising a hand to ward him off, James turns to Anthony and Chase and orders tersely, "Wait in the car."

Anthony is too surprised to move, and Chase has to drag him away. As they crouch behind another car, close enough to hear the conversation, guilt churns in Anthony's gut. It hadn't been his intention to force a confrontation between James and Harry. He only wanted to spend a Christmas with family who wouldn't ignore him.

"He's a lot like you," Harry says, sounding sad.

"He isn't," James denies. "Anthony is smarter than me. He knows that no matter what he does, you, or rather Albus, will never give him affirmation. Congratulations, _Dad_. You didn't learn your lesson at all." He pauses. "Anthony is staying with me. I don't know if his parents know, but if they don't, please don't tell them. I want to respect his wishes."

Footsteps approach the car which Anthony and Chase are hiding behind. They start to rise, but both pause, like James, at a call from Harry.

"I'm sorry. I know you don't believe me, but… I'm sorry. Ginny is, too."

James lets out a harsh bark of laughter. "You're right. I don't believe you, because you've already fallen into the cycle again. Let Albus know that if he doesn't want to lose his son, then he needs to grow up. Then I might think about accepting your apology."

Harry doesn't respond, and when Anthony peeks around the corner, he sees his grandfather hunched in on himself. Henry and Eric are staring at the ground, obviously confused and uncomfortable. James doesn't look back at them, but his bright blue eyes are like a frigid lake now.

The ride home is fraught with silence, but as soon as they're out of the car, Anthony hugs his uncle. "Thank you," he mumbles in a voice rich with emotion.

Startled, James puts a hand on Anthony's back. A moment later Chase moves closer to them, too, invading Anthony's personal space but only brushing their arms together.

"Your problem is that you're too independent," Chase tells him.

Anthony pulls back, wiping at his eyes. With an embarrassed smile, he takes the tissue James offers him. "Nah. My problem is that I have a brother."

"And that's why we stopped at one child," James sighs, laying a hand on each of their shoulders and gently pushing them toward the house. "Jealousy is an ugly thing, Anthony, but I of all people understand it. Just know that you'll always have a place at our house."

Feeling his tears starting anew, Anthony has never been more grateful to have found his cousin. Keeping Chase a secret from the rest of the family had initially felt wrong, but in his defense, he didn't know Chase's identity for certain until after Henry was sorted into Slytherin this year and Chase admitted it to him.

Inside the house it's warm and cheery. When he first arrived a couple days ago, Anthony was pleased to see that other than the color of Chase and Maia Potter's eyes, there is no green inside it at all. Instead, it is decorated mostly with a calming blue.

"There's my little Eavens," Maia says, wrapping both Chase and Anthony in a hug.

"A mixture of Eagles and Ravens," Chase explains at Anthony's look. "Because us Ravenclaws are so confused about our own identity."

Anthony thinks it's extremely fitting. He only hopes the cycle James spoke of can be broken.

* * *

 **AN:** This will probably be the last chapter. I know it's open-ended, but at least there's a note of positivity.


End file.
